Un.Bridled (Claimed Series #2) (34 page)

Nicolas appeared amused, if anything. “Depending on how you look at it, yes and no. Celeste needed someone to hide behind while she perfected her research. She controlled things from behind the scenes. I was the face behind the rogues, the one everyone is after. I was the mere distraction until Celeste was ready to execute her plans.”

“Why?” Hayden pressed. There had been too many betrayals. She couldn’t take Nicolas’ words at face value. “Why would you willingly betray your family and follow her?”

He was suddenly in her face, his blue eyes bright and cold. “I never betrayed Cole. My reasons for joining Celeste are my own. Perhaps when you earn my trust, I will share those reasons.” Nicolas watched her intently. “What matters now is that I am no longer on her side. What matters, most of all, is that we retrieve Cole as soon as possible.”

Any sort of uncertainties Hayden had over Nicolas’ allegiance were suddenly eclipsed by her worry for Cole. Blood drained from her face as she studied him, needing to see some sort of reassurance.

“What do they plan on doing to him?” she whispered brokenly.

Before Nicolas could respond, an engine sounded from outside, followed by a succession of car doors opening and closing. Her pulse quickened at the prospect of Celeste finding them again and she struggled to pull herself together.

But her worry absolved as soon as familiar faces rushed into the cabin. Blake was the first one through the kitchen, his expression relieved when he spotted Hayden, but it darkened immediately when he noticed Nicolas.

Without any sort of hesitancy, Blake charged. Hayden winced at her beta’s efforts. Every attempt he made at attacking Nicolas was only blocked and countered twice as lethally. Even though Blake was an impressive fighter, he was nothing compared to Nicolas.

It wasn’t long before Nicolas had Blake on the ground with a foot pressed into his neck. Hayden quickly stepped forward, putting a stop to the situation before Blake tried to persist.

“He’s on our side, Blake.”

Considering the looks she garnered from the rest of the pack, Addie in particular, Hayden realized how outlandish that statement really was. She didn’t know if anything would convince them, simply because Hayden wasn’t convinced herself.

“Where’s Cole?” Nathan was quick to demand.

Hayden exhaled forcibly, avoiding the pack’s eyes. “He’s gone,” she muttered. “Celeste took him. I don’t know where she brought him.”

“But
why
?” Blake growled and forced Nicolas’ foot off his throat. “Her members tried to persuade us to stay in the cabin, giving some line of bullshit, but we figured it out pretty quickly. It really is Celeste?”

“I find that hard to believe.” Nathan entered further into the kitchen, keeping Fergus and Addie at his back. He gave Nicolas a suspicious once-over. “Celeste and Nicolas are probably working together.”

Nicolas didn’t appear interested in defending himself, which meant Hayden had to speak for him, though she was clueless how to proceed.

“Celeste needed someone to charade as the rogue Alpha until she perfected her… her creations.” Hayden watched as Blake scrambled up, keeping his distance from Nicolas, but not far enough to admit defeat.

“Creations?” Addie inquired softly.

Hayden clenched her jaw. They were taking too long explaining things when Celeste could be looking for them, when Cole needed rescuing. “She wants to create a superior werewolf. I don’t know the details—”

“Among other things, these werewolves are stronger and more difficult to kill.” Nicolas met eyes with each member of the pack, clearly unabashed about his past deeds. “Celeste has found a way to manipulate the venom of three werewolves; Tracer, Evan, and Nolan. Only they are allowed to Sire humans. As a result, the newborn inherits a good portion of their Sire’s heightened abilities.”

Hayden hadn’t known there were only three. She remembered her conversation with Shane Donovan not too long ago. They had theorized that Nicolas, or in this case, Celeste, was only allowing a set number of wolves to Sire humans. But their theory was nothing close to the extent of
this.

“By doing this, by only allowing three werewolves to Sire humans with the altered venom, they are creating an unbreakable chain of command, an obedient army,” Nicolas continued. “A Sire has control over the werewolf they’ve turned. These altered newborns have a stronger bond with their Sire.”

Hayden tried not to consider her own situation, not when Cole was the one who needed saving. Yet, she found herself wondering about her own circumstances regarding Celeste’s experiments. Tracer was her Sire, yet she was able to defy him.

Then again, Celeste
had
stated that Hayden was the first round of unsuccessful prototypes. Perhaps obedience was something she improved on with the others.

Blake shifted uncomfortably, appearing to have understood the implications but unsure if he should support anything Nicolas said. “All these newborn werewolves, the ones who will inherit the modified genes, will be obedient to Tracer, Evan, or Nolan…” he trailed off, a sour look to his face.
“If they are all obedient to those three—”

“Carriers,” Nicolas interrupted. “They are called Carriers.”

“If the newborns are obedient to the
Carriers
, then who are the Carriers obedient to?” Blake looked at Nicolas, as if afraid to hear the answer. “If they have powerful numbers following them, why wouldn’t they just turn as many humans as possible and try to dominant over the others? It would be an all-out war against each other.”

“Celeste,” Nicolas supplied. “Celeste has complete control over her three Carriers.”

Hayden pressed her lips together in disapproval, having figured that would be the answer.  It seemed grim. Celeste had an unimaginable amount of power. Through the Carriers, she inadvertently controlled the newborn werewolves as well.

“But why?”
Blake asked. “Why is she doing this?”

“Celeste has many layers. She is not simply bent on world domination.” Nicolas looked at Hayden. “Her reasons are sensible, but they would take time to explain. I think we have more pressing matters to attend to.”

She nodded. Earlier, after she had woken up, Celeste had given Hayden a few reasons for her actions. Depending on the individual, some may even say Celeste had justified reasons for doing the things she was doing.

But to Hayden, Celeste was going about it the entirely wrong way.

“I still don’t believe it.” It wasn’t surprising that Nathan was the one to rebuff the claims. He must have been desperate, because he was looking at Blake for support. “We haven’t seen proof of these superior rogues or newborns.”

“I trust Hayden,” Blake countered firmly.

That effectively shut Nathan up and the rest of the pack descended into a grim silence. Hayden hated to see them so forlorn and divided.

“They were able to defeat Cole as if he were a child,” Hayden started softly. “Cole and I also saw proof of Celeste’s capabilities when we were on our way to the cabin. We came across a small town that was full of slain humans. It wasn’t the full moon, but they were alive. They had been
Sired by a werewolf.”

“Why didn’t Cole tell us? Why didn’t
you
?” Nathan demanded.

All eyes turned to Hayden in accusation. She stood stiffly, her position as Alpha requiring her to face hardships. “Cole—
we
—thought it would be best not to worry all of you. We had our theories, but we couldn’t be sure.”

Before Nathan could rebuttal with a fierce argument, Fergus interrupted. “What do they want with Cole?”

“What they couldn’t have with me.” Nicolas shifted, stepping away from Blake and approaching Hayden. “An obedient Slayter as a Carrier.”

Hayden faltered at the information, trying to picture Cole slaughtering towns of defenseless humans in an attempt to spread his venom. “He would never—”

“They have ways to ensure his loyalty, or in this case, obedience.” Nicolas gazed down at his body, seeing something only he could see. “They have methods to break down their subjects and create total dependency. I wanted nothing to do with it, and eventually, I was able to escape. Celeste caught wind of my presence here and intended to capture me again, but Cole took my place.”

Hayden looked closely at Nicolas’ body. There weren’t any physical markings besides the occasional silver scars, yet the damage done to his physique was obvious. He had suffered and Cole was experiencing the same thing.

She swallowed her bile. “How long do we have until he’s…”
Obedient? An entirely different person?

“Impossible to tell,” Nicolas responded shortly. “You and I need to leave as soon as possible.”

And then the chaos began, Blake being the most vocal.

“You can’t seriously be considering his suggestion, Hayden.” The beta prowled closer to the female Alpha. “This could be a trap. You can’t trust him. He could be working with Celeste and this is some elaborate ruse.”

She knew that. She was afraid of the same thing. “You know what Cole means to me,” she tried to reason. “I’m the only one who can track him quickly. You and the others need to continue Cole’s earlier plans of meeting Adolf. He and the other Alphas need to know about Celeste.”

Blake rounded on her, clearly upset. “You’re not going alone with him.”

“We have no other choice,” Hayden insisted, growing just as angry.

“I will go with you.”

She scoffed. “The pack needs someone to protect them, Blake.”

“Nathan—”

“Isn’t capable of defending Fergus and Addie by himself. You know that.”

Blake shut his mouth and peered at her intently. He was deep in thought until an idea struck. “Come with us to meet Adolf. We’ll explain the situation, leave the pack with Adolf, and then you and I will rescue Cole.”

“If you want to prolong Cole’s suffering, then yes, that sounds like a great idea.” Nicolas was quick to interject, his tone scathing. “The fewer people, the higher the chances of clandestineness. Hayden needs someone who is versed in the ways of the rogues. And
I
need Hayden to track Cole. Two people are enough.”

If it hadn’t been clear before, it certainly was now. Nicolas had somehow known that Hayden and Cole were life mates. She wondered when and how he’d known.

Blake drew her attention by nodding animatedly, as if he agreed full-heartedly with Nicolas. But his sarcastic compliance fell way to quick anger. He lunged at Nicolas and had the man pinned against the kitchen island, a strong forearm pressed against his vulnerable neck.

Nicolas merely endured it, his expression blank, and his eyes steadfast. Hayden shifted uncomfortably, knowing Nicolas could retaliate just as savagely. 

“Celeste may be the mastermind behind this, but it hadn’t slipped our minds that you haven’t explained
your
part in all this.” Blake’s amber eyes were dilated and his breathing was ragged. “What you’ve done to Cole, to Addie, to
all
of us is inexcusable. Cole would never forgive me if I entrusted his life mate to you.”

“Blake,” Hayden started desperately, but she was at a loss for words. She couldn’t fault him.

“We’re wasting time.” Nicolas shoved at Blake, but Blake pressed into him even harsher. “I have no interest in hurting her. She is useful.”

That only seemed to enrage Blake further. The beta pressed his forearm into Nicolas’ throat and curled his other hand around the back of the man’s neck. He squeezed tightly. “She is our Alpha and very important to us. If any harm comes to her while in your protection, I will do everything in my power to make you suffer.”

“You aren’t seriously considering letting her go!” Nathan interjected.

“Let them go.”

Hayden and the others turned to the unlikely voice. Addie slowly moved out from behind Nathan, her mouth set into a stern line. She avoided Nicolas fervently and only looked at Hayden.

“I remember when Xavier and Marie were apart. It was impossible to keep them separated and content. Hayden would leave doubtless of our interference.”

“But Cole and Hayden aren’t mated,” Nathan growled.

Pushing off from the kitchen counter, Hayden approached the middle of the kitchen, her mind made up. All the uncertainties and speculations were abruptly tossed from her conscience. “No, we aren’t.” She adjusted her coat with an air of finality. “But I can still feel him and I know he needs help doubtless of who accompanies me.”

She then turned to Blake, who still had his forearm pressed into Nicolas’ throat. “I’m going,” she insisted. “And I need to know if you are capable of bringing the pack to Adolf. I need your cooperation with this, Blake.”

The beta studied her with firm resolve before sighing. Removing his hold on Nicolas, he approached Hayden and engulfed her in a hug. “We will stay with Adolf until you bring Cole back to us.
Stay safe, Hayden.”

Fergus shoved past Nathan, never one to
miss out on a group hug. He folded his arms around both Hayden and Blake, holding them close.

“Do you have a car to get you there?” Hayden patted Fergus on the shoulder in a consoling matter, sensing the omega’s distress.